TEAC principles and standards for educational leadership programs

Teacher Education Accreditation Council TEAC principles and standards for educational leadership programs 1.0 QUALITY PRINCIPLE I: Evidence of candidate learning Programs must provide sufficient evidence that candidates have learned and understood the educational leadership curriculum. This evidence is verified through audit and evaluated for its consistency and sufficiency. Each component and crosscutting theme of Quality Principle I must contribute to the overall goal of producing competent, caring, and qualified professionals. 1.1 Professional knowledge The program faculty must provide evidence that its candidates understand organizational theory and development, human resource management, school finance and law, instructional supervision, educational policy and politics, and data analysis and interpretation. The graduates must be prepared to create or develop (1) an ethical and productive school culture, (2) an effective instructional program, (3) a comprehensive professional staff development plan, (4) a safe and efficient learning environment, (5) a profitable collaboration with families and other community members, (6) the capacity to serve diverse community interests and needs, and (7) the ability to mobilize the community s resources in support of the school s goals. 1.2 Strategic decision-making The program faculty must provide evidence that the candidates know how to (1) make decisions fairly, collaboratively, and informed by research evidence; (2) formulate strategy to achieve the school s goals; and (3) articulate and communicate an educational vision that is consistent with the school s mission and the nation s democratic ideals. 1.3 Caring leadership skills The program faculty must provide evidence that the candidates know how to act on their knowledge in a caring and professional manner that results in appropriate levels of achievement for all the school s pupils. 1.4 Cross-cutting themes In meeting each of TEAC components 1.1 1.3, the program must demonstrate that its candidates have addressed the following three cross-cutting liberal education themes: Page 1

1.4.1 Learning how to learn: Candidates must demonstrate that they have learned how to learn information on their own, that they can transfer what they have learned to new situations, and that they have acquired the dispositions and skills of critical reflection that will support life-long learning in their field. 1.4.2 Multicultural perspectives and accuracy: Candidates must demonstrate that they have learned accurate and sound information on matters of race, gender, individual differences, and ethnic and cultural perspectives. 1.4.3 Technology: Candidates must be able to use appropriate technology in carrying out their professional responsibilities. 1.5 Evidence of valid assessment The program must provide evidence regarding the trustworthiness, reliability, and validity of the evidence produced from the assessment method or methods that it has adopted. 2.0 QUALITY PRINCIPLE II: Evidence of faculty learning and inquiry There must be a system of inquiry, review, and quality control in place through which the faculty secures evidence and informed opinion needed to improve program quality. Program faculty should be undertaking inquiry directed at the improvement of teaching and learning, and it should modify the program and practices to reflect the knowledge gained from its inquiry. 2.1 Rationale for the assessments There must be a rationale for the program s assessment methods that explains why the faculty selected the assessments it used, why it thinks its interpretations of the assessment results are valid, and why the criteria and standards the faculty has set as indicating success are appropriate. 2.2 Program decisions and planning based on evidence Where appropriate, the program must base decisions to modify its assessment systems, pedagogical approaches, and curriculum and program requirements on evidence of candidate learning. 2.3 Influential quality control system The program must provide evidence, based on an internal audit conducted by the program faculty, that the quality control system functions as it was designed, that it promotes the faculty s continual improvement of the program, and that it yields the following additional and specific outcomes: 2.3.1 Curriculum: The curriculum meets the state's program or curriculum course requirements for granting a professional license. Page 2

2.3.2 Faculty: The Inquiry Brief, as endorsed and accepted by the faculty, demonstrates the faculty s accurate and balanced understanding of the disciplines that are connected to the program. 2.3.3 Candidates: Admissions and mentoring policies encourage the recruitment and retention of diverse candidates with demonstrated potential as professional educators, and must respond to the nation s needs for qualified individuals to serve in high demand areas and locations. The program must monitor the quality of the support services provided to candidates to ensure that student support services contribute to candidate success in learning as required by Quality Principle I. 2.3.4 Resources: The program faculty must monitor and seek to improve the suitability and appropriateness of program facilities, supplies, and equipment and to ensure that the program has adequate financial and administrative resources. 3.0 QUALITY PRINCIPLE III: Evidence of institutional commitment and capacity for program quality The program faculty must make a case that overall it has the capacity to offer a quality program, and it does this by bringing forth evidence in the ways described below. 3.1 Commitment (program parity with the institution) In assessing whether a program has demonstrated the existence of adequate and appropriate facilities, equipment, and supplies, the auditors, Accreditation Panel, and Accreditation Committee consider a variety of factors, most notably whether the program s facilities, equipment, and supplies are proportionate to the overall institutional resources and whether the program s financial and administrative resources are proportionate to the overall institutional resources. TEAC requires parity or proportionality in six areas: 3.1.1 Curriculum: The curriculum does not deviate from, and has parity with, the institution's overall standards and requirements for granting the academic degree. 3.1.2 Faculty: Faculty qualifications must be equal to or better than the statistics for the institution as a whole with regard to the attributes of the members of the faculty (e.g., proportion of terminal degree holders, alignment of degree specialization and program responsibilities, proportions and balance of the academic ranks, and diversity). See also 3.2.4. 3.1.3 Facilities: The facilities, equipment, and supplies allocated to the program by the institution, at a minimum, must be proportionate to the overall institutional resources. The program candidates, faculty, and staff must have equal and Page 3

sufficient access to, and benefit from, the institution s facilities, equipment, and supplies. 3.1.4 Fiscal and administrative: The financial and administrative resources allocated to the program must, at a minimum, be proportionate to the overall allocation of financial resources to other programs at the institution. 3.1.5 Candidate support: Student support services available to candidates in the program must be, at a minimum, equal to the level of support services provided by the institution as a whole. 3.1.6. Candidate complaints: Complaints about the program s quality must be proportionally no greater or significant than the complaints made by candidates in the institution s other programs. 3.2 Sufficient capacity for quality The program must also show that it has adequate and sufficient capacity in the same areas. The curriculum is adequate to support a quality program that meets the candidate learning requirements of Quality Principle I. The program must also demonstrate that the faculty members associated with the program are qualified for their assigned duties in the program consistent with the goal of preparing competent, caring, and qualified educators. The program must demonstrate that the facilities provided by the institution for the program are sufficient and adequate to support a quality program. The program must have adequate and appropriate fiscal and administrative resources that are sufficient to support the mission of the program and to achieve the goal of preparing competent, caring, and qualified educators. The program must make available to candidates regular and sufficient student services such as counseling, career placement, advising, financial aid, health care, and media and technology support. The institution that offers the program must publish in its catalog, or other appropriate documents distributed to candidates, accurate information that fairly describes the program, policies and procedures directly affecting admitted candidates in the program, charges and refund policies, grading policies, and the academic credentials of faculty members and administrators. The quality of a program depends on its ability to meet the needs of its candidates. One effective way to determine if those needs are met is to encourage candidates to evaluate the program and express their concerns, grievances, and ideas about the program. The faculty is asked to provide evidence that it makes a provision for the free expression of candidate views about the program and responds to candidate feedback and complaints. 3.2.1. Curriculum: The curriculum must reflect an appropriate number of credits and credit hour requirements for the components of Quality Principle I. An academic major, or its equivalent, is necessary for subject matter knowledge Page 4

(1.1) and no less than an academic minor, or its equivalent, is necessary for pedagogical knowledge and teaching skill (1.2 and 1.3). 3.2.2. Faculty: Faculty members must be qualified to teach the courses in the program to which they are assigned, as evidenced by advanced degrees held, scholarship, advanced study, contributions to the field, and professional experience. TEAC requires that a majority of the faculty members must hold a graduate or doctoral level degree in subjects appropriate to teach the education program of study and curricula. The program may, however, demonstrate that faculty not holding such degrees are qualified for their roles based on the other factors than those stated above. 3.2.3. Facilities: The program must demonstrate that there are appropriate and adequate budgetary and other resource allocations for program space, equipment, and supplies to promote success in candidate learning as required by Quality Principle I. 3.2.4. Fiscal and administrative: The financial condition of the institution that supports the program must be sound, the institution must be financially viable, and the resources available to the program must be sufficient to support the operations of the program and to promote success in candidate learning as required by Quality Principle I. The program must demonstrate that there is an appropriate level of institutional investment in and commitment to faculty development, research and scholarship, and national and regional service. Faculty workload obligations must be commensurate with the institution s expectations for promotion, tenure, and other program obligations. 3.2.5. Student support services: Student services available to candidates in the program must be sufficient to support successful completion of the program and success in candidate learning. In cases where the program does not directly provide student support services, the program must show that candidates have equal access to, and benefit from, student support services provided by the institution. 3.2.6. Policies and practices: The program must distribute an academic calendar to candidates. The academic calendar must list the beginning and end dates of terms, holidays, and examination periods. If the program s academic calendar coincides with the institution s academic calendar, it may distribute the institution s academic calendar. Claims made by the program in its published materials must be accurate and supported with evidence. Claims made in the Inquiry Brief regarding the program must be consistent with, and inclusive of, the claims made about the program Page 5

that appear in the institution s catalog, mission statements, website, and other promotional literature. The program must have a fair and equitable published grading policy, which may be the institution s grading policy. The program must have a published transfer of credit and transfer of student enrollment policy. The institution is required to keep a file of complaints from its candidates about the program s quality and must provide TEAC with access to all complaints regarding the program and their resolution. 3.3. State standards When appropriate, usually because of TEAC s protocol agreement with a state, a third component to the TEAC capacity standards (3.3) is added, with subcomponents (3.3.1, etc.), in accordance to the state s particular additional requirements. Nonspecific concerns If the Brief contains claims and information that are not clearly related to any feature of the TEAC accreditation framework, but which nevertheless speak to the overall reliability and trustworthiness of the Brief, the auditors will list them as nonspecific concerns about the accuracy of the Brief, and the tasks that probe these concerns will be counted in the overall audit opinion with regard to whether they were verified or not. Page 6